Hay bale basket

ABSTRACT

A mobile basket for accumulating and transporting hay bales includes a container mounted on wheels. The container has a pair of side walls which are spaced from each other and the spacing is greater at the rear of the container than at the front thereof. A rear wall of the container is hinged at its top and opens by gravity to discharge the bales from the container. A chute is also provided at the front of the container to receive hay bales directly from a hay baler and discharge them to the container. The rear wall may be opened and shut remotely, and a plurality of the containers may be readily nested with relation to each other for shipment.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 983,268, filedNov. 30, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,035 which application was acontinuation of application Ser. No. 679,763, filed Apr. 3, 1991, nowabandoned.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a hay bale basket and, moreparticularly, to a mobile basket for receiving bales of hay in the fieldfrom a hay baler, transporting the bales from the field to a desiredstorage location, and discharging the bales at that location.

Hay bale baskets of a general nature in one form or another have beenutilized in agriculture for decades for the aforementioned purposes.Such hay bale baskets have been either filled directly from a hay baleras the bales are formed in the field, or they are drawn through thefield in conjunction with a mechanism which picks up and throws balesinto the basket which have already been formed and have been leftdeposited in the field. When the basket has been filled, it is drawn bya tractor or other vehicle from the field to the location at which thebales are to be deposited, and there the bales are dumped from thebasket.

The prior hay bale baskets suffer from a number of disadvantages. Wherethe basket has been employed with a bale thrower which picks the alreadyformed bales from the field to throw them into the basket, impact forceson the basket have resulted in bending or damage to the basket.Moreover, the bale throwers themselves constitute an additional piece ofequipment which poses an added expense to the bale collection process,and which is prone to mechanical problems.

The hay bale basket of the present invention is preferably coupleddirectly to the baler which forms the bales in the field, and receivesthe bales immediately as they are formed, and the bales are collected inthe basket without throwing. Thus, the bale basket of the presentinvention obviates the need for the separate thrower equipment with itsattendant disadvantages, and also the additional steps of firstdepositing the bale in the field and then retraversing the field laterin a separate step to pick up the formed bales for transport to theirstorage location.

Hay bale baskets of this nature, i.e. which are adapted to receive balesdirectly from a hay baler, have also been known in the agriculturalindustry for decades. However, most if not all of these prior hay balebaskets--either those of the type used in association with bale throwersor used directly with the hay baler--also suffer several additionaldisadvantages. One such disadvantage is that because their wallsgenerally take the form of an open basket or cage-like structure, balesfrequently become lodged in the wall openings and/or wedged against eachother, thereby impairing both the easy and complete filling of the balebasket, or the rapid, complete and organized unloading of the basket atthe location at which the bales are to be ultimately deposited. Thepresent invention overcomes those problems simply and efficiently.

Another disadvantage of the prior hay bale baskets is that the basketshave not generally been susceptible to assembly by the manufacturerbecause the assembled baskets are difficult to ship in quantity due totheir bulky size. Accordingly, they are usually shipped as a largenumber of individual parts and initial assembly usually takes place atthe site of the dealer or ultimate user. That assembly frequentlyrequires up to two man days for each basket. Unlike these prior hay balebaskets, the major components of the hay bale basket of the presentinvention may be preassembled at a manufacturing facility whereappropriate personnel, equipment and tools are available, and theselarge preassembled subassemblies may be easily stacked for shipment inquantities to the final assembly location and assembly may be completedthere by as few as two men in about 30 minutes.

Also in the present invention, a latching assembly is provided for therear wall of the hay bale basket which permits it to be remotelyactuated to swing open by gravity to dump the bales from the basket, andmay be relatched shut simply by movement of the bale basket. Thereby,discharge of the bales is readily facilitated and possible injury topersonnel is minimized because personnel do not have to be positionedadjacent the rear wall or its discharge at any time.

In one principal aspect of the present invention, a mobile basket foraccumulating and transporting hay bales comprises an axle supported onwheels and a container mounted upon and supported by the axle for thetransport of the container. The container has a front and a rear, and apair of side walls which are spaced from each other to define thecontainer. The side walls have a cage-like structure with openings ofsubstantial size therethrough. A bottom wall on the container slopesupwardly from adjacent the axle toward the front of the container, and arear wall is on the rear of the container. Hinge means hinges the rearwall adjacent its top to the container and such that the rear wallswings between a shut position to retain the bales in the container andan open position by gravity to discharge the bales from the container.The spacing of the cage-like side walls is greater at the rear of thecontainer than at the front thereof.

In another principal aspect of the present invention, an elongate chuteis mounted to the front of the container and slopes downwardly andforwardly therefrom. The chute has an inlet end positioned to receivebales from a hay baler and a discharge end positioned to discharge thebales in the chute to the container.

In still another principal aspect of the present invention, thecontainer has a front wall at its front and adjacent its top and theaforementioned chute is mounted to the front wall.

In still another principal aspect of the present invention, theaforementioned chute has a latch adjacent its inlet end to retain balesin the chute.

In still another principal aspect of the present invention, a castorwheel is positioned adjacent the front of the container.

In still another principal aspect of the present invention, latch meansis positioned adjacent the aforementioned rear wall, and latch operatingmeans unlatches the latch means from a location remote from the latchmeans to permit the rear wall to swing from its shut position to itsopen position.

In still another principal aspect of the present invention, at least aportion of the rear wall is inclined relative to the vertical when therear wall is in its shut position, whereby the rear wall will swing toits open position by gravity about its hinge means.

In still another principal aspect of the present invention, theaforementioned inclined rear wall will also swing to its shut positionand be latched therein by the latch means by movement of the mobilebasket.

In still another principal aspect of the present invention, theaforementioned side walls comprise a plurality of spaced paralleltubular members sloping upwardly from the rear wall toward the front ofthe container, the spacing between the tubular members defining theaforementioned openings of substantial size.

In still another principal aspect of the present invention, theaforementioned bottom wall also has a cage-like structure with openingsof substantial size therethrough.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood through a consideration of thefollowing detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the course of this description, reference will frequently be made tothe attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a hay bale basket constructed inaccordance with the principles of the present invention and shown inoperation in the field in conjunction with a conventional hay baler andtractor;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the hay bale basket shown in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation view of the hay bale basket shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectioned, side elevation view of a preferredembodiment of latching mechanism for the rear wall of the hay balebasket of the present invention;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are broken plan views of the latching mechanismsubstantially as shown in FIG. 4 and in which the rear wall of the haybale basket is latched and being unlatched, respectively, with FIG. 5being viewed substantially along line 5--5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of two partially assembled hay balebaskets constructed in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention and in which they are stacked for transport to their finalassembly destination; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the partially assembled, stacked baskets, asviewed substantially along lines 8--8 of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred embodiment of mobile hay bale basket 10 constructed inaccordance with the principles of the present invention is shown in thedrawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the bale basket 10 is adapted to be drawnby a tongue 12 from a rear hitch 13 on a conventional hay baler 14. Thehay baler 14, in turn may be drawn by a tractor 16 in the field.

With reference in particular to FIGS. 1-3, the hay bale basket has afront 17 having a front wall 18, a rear 19 having a rear wall 20, and apair of spaced side walls 21 and 22 extending between the front and rearwalls. The basket 10 also includes an axle 24, as best seen in FIG. 3,with the axle having a pair of spaced tires or wheels 25 at each end forsupporting the hay bale basket. The basket 10 also includes a bottomwall 26 which slopes upwardly from the axle 24 to the front wall 18, asbest seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. The front wall 18, rear wall 20, spaced sidewalls 21 and 22, and sloped bottom wall 26 thereby define a containerbasket for receiving, transporting and discharging bales of hay H asseen in FIGS. 1 and 2.

This basket container is mounted on the axle 24 for transport thereonand also on a frame 28 having typical angled support struts 30 forsupporting the front 17 of the basket. A castor wheel 32 is alsopreferably mounted on the frame 28 adjacent the front 17 of the balebasket and the struts 30 for supporting the front of the basket andpermitting the entire bale basket assembly to readily turn both in andout of the field.

The front wall 18, rear wall 20, side walls 21 and 22, and sloped bottomwall 26 are in the form of a cage-like structure or basket havingopenings of substantial size therein. As shown in the drawings, thesewalls are preferably formed by tubular members or pipes 33 which extendin spaced parallel relationship to each other and in a generally upwarddirection from the rear 19 toward the front 17. The pipes 33 are fixedat their ends, as by welding, between a perimeter frame 34 to form thesewalls. Due to the spacing between the tubular members 33, openings 35 ofsubstantial size are present between the tubular members. Thisconstruction is preferred because it is both strong as well as lightweight, and the degree of fill of the bale basket can be visuallyobserved at all times during use.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the front wall 18 contains a bale inlet opening36. A bale chute 38 is attached to the front wall 18 so that its upperend discharges through the bale inlet opening 36 into the basket. Fromthe front wall 18 the bale chute 38 slopes downwardly to a lower bottomchute inlet 40 which may be positioned adjacent the discharge of the haybaler 14 to receive the hay bales H. The bale chute 38 also ispreferably formed of longitudinally extending pipes 42. A latch 44, asseen in FIG. 2, which may take any number of forms, is positionedadjacent the chute inlet 40. The purpose of the latch 44 is to permitthe bales to readily enter the chute 38 from the inlet 40, but be ableto pivot or otherwise move to prevent any of them which may bepositioned in the chute from falling from the chute during transport.

Due to the openings 35 of substantial size defined between the basketpipes 33 in the side walls 21 and 22 and/or bottom wall 26 of the balebasket, bales sometimes would tend to become lodged or wedged in theopenings both during the loading of the bales H into the bale basket, aswell as during unloading. However, this lodging or wedging problem isavoided in the present invention by flaring the side walls 21 and 22from the front wall 18 toward the rear 19 of the bale basket as bestseen in FIG. 8. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the width of thebale basket w₁ at its front 17 is less then the width w₂ at the rear 19of the basket. For example, it has been found that where w₁ is 10 feetand w₂ is 11 feet, the tendency of the hay bales H to become lodged orwedged in the openings 35 and hung up in the basket during loading orunloading is avoided, and results in the free and ready discharge of thebales H, as well as minimizing their scatter at the unloading site.

The flared side walls also enjoy another important advantage. That isthat they permit the manufacture of a major part of the bale basket atthe manufacturer, rather than at the dealer or end user. This is becausethe preassembled basket subassemblies which already include the frontwall 18, side walls 21 and 22 and bottom wall 26 may be stacked inclosely nested relationship, as shown in FIGS. 7-8, and transported atthe same time on a flat bed truck. In prior unflared baskets, if theseelements were assembled at a primary manufacturer, only one or two unitsat most could be shipped on the same truck. However, with the flaredcage-like baskets of the present invention, two or more basketsubassemblies 10 and 10A may be easily nested or stored in the minimumof space as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Once the basket subassemblies 10 and10A arrive at their final assembly site, all that needs to be done is tomount them on their axles 24, wheels 25, frames 28 and struts 30, hangthe rear wall 20 and mount the bale chute 38. This can be done by twopersons in about 30 minutes for each basket, as opposed to two personsfor two days where the entire assembly must be put together on site. Itwill be understood that although only two baskets are shown in stackedrelationship in FIGS. 7-8, many more may be so stacked.

A cross beam or pipe 46, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, is preferablyfixed to the top of the rear frame pipes 34 of the side walls 21 and 22so as to extend transversely across the top of the rear 19 of the basket10. The rear end wall 20 also has a cross pipe 48 extending transverselyacross its width at the top. A plurality of half-hinge cylinders 49 arefixed, as by welding, to the underside of the cross beam or pipe 46, anda plurality of half-hinge cylinders 50 are fixed, as by welding, to thetopside of the cross pipe 48. The hinge cylinders 49 and 50 are hingedlymounted together in the fashion of a door hinge by hinge pins 52. Thus,the rear wall 20 of the basket is capable of hingedly swinging between aposition to shut the basket, as shown in solid in FIG. 2, and a positionto open the basket 10, as shown in dot and dash in FIG. 2.

Also as shown in FIG. 2, the rear wall 20 preferably includes a verticalportion 20' which extends in a generally vertical direction when therear wall 20 is in its shut position, and a lower portion 20" whichextends at an angle to the vertical when the rear wall 20 is in thatposition. The purpose of the double angled rear wall 20 will bedescribed in further detail to follow.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 3-6, the frame 28 also includes atransverse cross beam 54 extending across the bale basket adjacent thebottom of the bottom wall 26. A latching assembly 56 is mounted to thecross beam as by bolts 58.

As best seen in FIGS. 4-6, the latching assembly 56 comprises a pair ofplates 59 and 60 which are spaced from each other at their rearward endsto receive a pair of locking fingers 61 and 62 therebetween. The lockingfingers are mounted to pivot relative to the plates 59 and 60 by pivotpins 64 extending between the plates and through the fingers. Anactuating arm 66 vertically extends through a slot 67 in the plates 59and 60 and is pivotally attached at its lower end to a pin 68 whichextends between a pair of spaced flanges 70 fixed to the bottom side ofthe lower plate 60. The actuating arm 66 is loaded by a spring 72 so asto pivot in the counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4, andbetween the ends of the locking fingers which are between the plates 59and 60. When the actuating arm 66 is in this position, the lockingfingers 61 and 62 are prevented from moving from the locking position asshown in FIG. 5.

A cable 74 or other tensioning mechanism is fixed to the top of theactuating arm 66 to draw it in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG.4 against the force of spring 72, and from between the ends of thelocking fingers 61 and 62 which are between the plates 59 and 60 topermit the locking fingers to pivot to their open position as shown inFIG. 6. The cable 74 is preferably connected to a cable actuating lever76 which, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is located remotely from the rearwall 20.

The cable actuating lever 76 may be either mounted on the frame 28 orone of the struts 30, as shown in the drawings, or even to the tractor16 when the bale basket is being transported to the location in whichthe bales are to be deposited. Thus, it will be seen that the rear wall20 may be unlatched at a location remote from it to prevent accidentalinjury to the operating personnel.

The rear wall 20 also includes a bottom cross pipe or beam 78, as seenin FIGS. 3-6, with an open bracket structure 80 extending beneath thelatching mechanism 56 and its locking fingers 61 and 62. A pin 82 isfixed, as by welding, between the cross pipe 78 and the bracket 80. Thepin 82 is positioned between the locking fingers 61 and 62, as shown inFIG. 5, to latch the rear wall 20 in the shut position. When the fingersare released by drawing a tension on the cable 74, the weight of therear wall 20 with its inclined bottom portion 20" will cause the rearwall to swing open by gravity with the pin 82 forcing the lockingfingers 61 and 62 apart, as shown in FIG. 6, to unlatch the rear wall.

Once the rear wall 20 is unlatched and swings to its open position, thebales H in the bale basket 10 will be rapidly discharged into a compactorganized pile. Further movement forward of the basket until the rearwall 20 clears the pile of bales will cause the rear wall to swing likea pendulum due to the inclined lower portion 20" with sufficientswinging motion so that the pin 82 will again move between the lockingfingers 61 and 62. When the pin 82 moves back, it will strike camsurfaces 84 on the fingers, as shown in FIG. 6, to force the fingerstogether to relatch the pin 82 and the rear wall 20 in the shut positionas shown in FIG. 5. Thus, the opening and shutting of the rear wall maybe accomplished remotely and automatically without the need for thepresence of personnel adjacent to this operation.

Although it is believed that the operation and use of the preferredembodiment of hay bale basket of the present invention will be evidentfrom the foregoing description, a brief description thereof will follow.

In the field the hay bale basket 10 is hitched via the tongue 12 to thehay baler 14, the latter of which is hitched to the tractor 16. At thistime the rear wall 20 of the basket 10 is in its latched shut conditionas shown in solid in FIG. 2.

The entire combination is then moved through the field. The hay baler 14picks up the mown hay, bales it and discharges the bales to the inlet 40of the bale chute 38 as shown in FIG. 1. As the bales are discharged tothe chute, they sequentially move up the chute until the leading bale His discharged into the bale basket through the bale inlet opening 36 inthe top front wall 18 of the basket 10. Due to the flared sidewalls 21and 22, the bales H move into the basket easily and in an unimpairedfashion until the basket has been filled.

The filled basket 10 is now unhitched from the baler 14 and is ready fortransport back to the location at which it is desired to deposit thebales. In this condition, the basket 10 is not only filled, but thechute 38 is also filled. The bales in the chute 38 are prevented fromfalling out of the chute by the latch 44 when the baler 14 is removedand during transport. Another tractor or truck may then be coupled tothe tongue 12 for transport, while a second basket is hitched to thebaler 14, if the baling operation is to be continued.

When the loaded bale basket 10 reaches its location of deposit, its rearwall 20 is positioned at the exact spot that it is desired to depositthe load of bales. At this time all that need be done is to actuate thecable actuating lever 76, either from the location shown in the drawingsor from the tractor. When actuated, a tension will be drawn on cable 74to permit the locking fingers 61 and 62 of the latching assembly 56 tomove to their open position as shown in FIG. 6. They will be moved totheir open position automatically due to the natural tendency of theinclined portion 20" of the rear wall 20 to cause the rear wall to swingopen by gravity, and also due to the load of bales bearing against thatwall. Thus, the pin 82, as shown in FIG. 6, will swing away from thelatching assembly 56 and the rear wall will swing to its open positionto dump the load of bales H from the basket. This dumping occurs rapidlywithout hang up or wedging of the bales in the basket or its wallopenings due to the flare of the sidewalls 21 and 22.

When the bales have been dumped, the bale basket 10 is moved forward soas to clear the bales, and the rear wall 20 will swing with a pendulousmotion by this movement until its pin 82 swings back to between thelocking fingers 61 and 62. In the meantime the tension has been relievedon cable 74 and the motion of the pin 82 into position between thelocking fingers will strike the cam surfaces 84 on the locking fingersto shut the fingers, as shown in FIG. 5, and latch the rear wall 20 inits shut position. The hay bale basket 10 is now ready for transportback to the field for another load of bales.

It will be understood that the embodiment of the present invention whichhas been described is merely illustrative of one of the applications ofthe principles of the invention. Numerous modifications may be made bythose skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit andscope of the invention.

I claim:
 1. A plurality of at least partially assembled bale basketcontainers for accumulating and transporting hay bales and which havebeen nested for shipping, comprising:at least two containers of a sizesufficient to contain and accumulate plural bales of hay when depositedtherein; each said container having a rear and a front, a pair of sidewalls which are spaced from each other, and a bottom wall which slopesupwardly from the rear of said container to said front; said side wallsand bottom wall of each container being stationarily fixed relative toeach other, and said side walls being spaced from each other by anamount which is greater adjacent said rear than adjacent said front suchthat the side walls of each container progressively flare toward saidrear of each of said containers; the rear of each said container alsohaving a hinge and being constructed and arranged to mount a rear wallto swing on the hinge between a first position to shut the rear of thecontainer and a second position outwardly and rearwardly of saidcontainer to open the rear of said container for discharge of the haybales when they are in the containers; one of said containers and thewalls thereof of a given kind having a size and configuration which aresubstantially identical to the size and configuration of the othercontainer and its walls of like kind; and the front of one of saidcontainers being inserted into the other container through the rear ofthe other container in the absence of the rear wall on the othercontainer and nested in the other container with the walls of a givenkind of said one container positioned adjacent the walls of like kind ofsaid other container.
 2. The plurality of bale basket subassemblies ofclaim 1, wherein at least some of the walls of each said container havea cage-like structure with openings of substantial size therethrough. 3.A method of shipping a plurality of at least partially assembledsubstantially identically sized and configured bale basket containershaving walls and which containers are of a size sufficient to containand accumulate plural bales of hay within the walls of the containers,the containers each including a bottom wall which slopes upwardly fromthe rear of the container and a pair of side walls which are spaced fromeach other by an amount which is greater adjacent the rear of thecontainers such that the side walls of each container progressivelyflare toward the rear of each of said containers, and in which when thecontainers are fully assembled, they have a rear wall which swingsbetween a first shut position and a second position outwardly andrearwardly of the container to open the rear of the container fordischarging the hay bales therefrom, comprising:positioning a first ofthe containers to provide access to the rear thereof; inserting thefront of a second of the containers through the rear of the firstcontainer either prior to installation of the rear wall on said firstcontainer or after removal of the rear wall therefrom; nesting saidsecond container in said first container with the walls of a given kindof the second container positioned adjacent the walls of like kind ofsaid first container; and shipping said nested containers.
 4. The methodof claim 3, includingdenesting of said first and second nestedcontainers; and mounting the rear wall following denesting on at leastone of the containers for swinging movement between the first and secondpositions.